Moonspear made for ending [bwp]

Weather: -9°F, overcast.

The heavy snow the night before had kept Dune near the foot of the mountain. Traveling up in that kind of weather was not his idea of fun, and he still wasn't quite ready to come into contact with Dirge again. At least Wraen had not seemed too worried about the new thing around his neck. He smiled gently at the thought of her. As much as he was worried about what the others might think about his blessing, Dune was a social guy, and eventually, he grew restless as night fell over the Teekon Wilds.

He could not see the moon right now, due to the cloud cover, but Dune knew it was almost always there (save for one or two nights out of its cycle, when it seemed only to be a shadow against the night sky). Dune did not know exactly where in the sky it was, but he lifted his chin and howled at the clouds anyway, hoping his voice would penetrate the obstruction enough so that the moon could hear him. Perhaps it was the moon that had granted him this gift. And perhaps him joining Moonspear had something to do with all of it, too.

The alpha was staying low on the mountain too. Highly suspicious of all sorts of things, it was feeling most worthwhile for her to vent her energies lower on guard and otherwise—where she could at least shelter from some of the snow and cold too at times. It was working out so far, even if she remained distant, but intense towards those who chanced their lucks coming close to her.

Amekaze paused her roving when a voice hit the winds from nearby. Listening, and encouraged since she was relatively in the neighborhood here in the depths of the night, she canted her head back to add in her lower-toned song. She'd never had the greatest voice for howling a particularly lovely melody, what with a bit of grit on it always, but she would join in on the sentiment all the same; she would always much rather have the moon out where they could see it.

Another voice joined his little moon song, and when his own howl tapered off, he pricked his ears forward to try and locate where it had come from. It sounded vaguely familiar, though he could not place it, and curiosity got the better of him. Plucking his way through the snow, step-by-step, he eventually caught sight of the dark wolf against the white blanket of snow. Thinking it might be one of the three sisters, Dune set his sights on the wolf and headed that way.

As he approached, though, he realized (with some mild panic) that it was not Alya, Hydra, or Lyra, but their mother: Amekaze. They had met in passing—exchanged names at least—but Dune had felt anxious around her ever since it was obvious that Charon was trying to keep all the males away from her. It was quite possible that had come to an end, but Dune did not want to be presumptuous, so he kept his distance, stopping plenty far away for her to exit his company if she wished to do so.

Her note tapered off to silence too a short while after his did, and with that said and done, she lowered her nose and prepared to be on her way. This guided her his way, but he was already a few steps ahead on this and Ame regarded him with interest the second she realized it was Dune. Her tail arced and she swung it gently in a curious wave. He had joined them at a strange time for her, so really, she knew very little about him except that he stayed and the mountain hadn't killed him yet. This let her be welcoming enough towards the likes of the Nu, not outright so harsh, since none of that could be taken out on him. As far as she knew, he hadn't done anything to bother her, even while she had worked through the details of her heat not so long ago, and that was good.

She chuffed at him and wore the closest thing to amicability she had these days to see if it may invite him (and the strange thing he wore) closer.

She did not chase him off (at least not right away), and Dune took that as some kind of invitation... even if it was a tentative one. He stepped gingerly toward her, tail wagging between his hocks, ears flattened against his skull, and head lowered. The last thing he wanted to do was offend her for not showing the proper respect. He knew little of the dynamics between the various members of the pack, aside from the fact that the three sisters were each other's shadows.

Idly, he wondered how long Amekaze and Charon had lived here on this mountain, if they had been born here, if they had made their marriage here. These were not things he would ask, for Dune rarely asked anything of anybody, but he was curious nonetheless. Maybe the pack should offer Moonspear 101: A Short Introduction to all new members.

He took the chance and brought with him no reasons for her to ruffle back at him, especially not when he seemed to mind himself before her. Appeased enough, she answered with a better tail wag (although still lifted) meant to mirror his own. Towards the company of her fellows, she could be gentler.. especially when she was curious too, but he was not entirely there yet; still too new to her, at too delicate of a time for her to very trusting.

Which, she felt her eyes drawn to his collar again. Strange alien thing it was, she wondered why him. In very brief passing, she had seen similar objects once and still never understood the cause or the purpose. Never had she known them here though--not on her home, so suspicion loomed, and leaned her in for a closer look and only slowly swayed her tail (almost questioningly). While doing so, she breathed deep its scent--and his as well, and how very Moonspearian he had become already. All things considered, it seemed to her like he had been able to make himself pretty comfortable here so far. "How have you been?" she asked, glancing over his face and bright eyes, then noticeably back to his adornment. "What is having that like?" Did it bother him any? On that thought, did it do anything?

"Good," he replied, eyes full of contentment. Moonspear had been good to him so far, and he had no reason to believe things would take a turn for the worse. She asked then, more with her eyes than her voice, about the gift he had been given. In some ways, he felt protective of it. In other ways, he wanted only to be rid of it so he was not the center of attention everywhere he went. Then again, the attention was a bit of a welcome change from all the time he had spent alone, so perhaps it was both a blessing and a curse, just as he had thought all along.

He shrugged, not really sure how to answer. "Lots attention," he said, figuring that was the best way to describe it. While he didn't feel particularly different with it on, others certainly treated him like he was some sort of foreign creature. It probably didn't help that he was new around here, making others somehow suspicious of his accessory.

He confirmed her suspicions concisely and as for the collar, she found the answer more abstract than anticipated. "I have never seen one near here before," she said, sure the same was true for many of her fellows; it was new and foreign and on their home like this all of a sudden. "Does it do anything?" she asked while still looking at it. "Well, besides be." As that much was obvious. It had to be a weight on his neck.. pressing against him always, yet it didn't look like it bothered him at all. He wore it like it was just how it was for him (which wasn't wrong) but perhaps this was best.

It seemed benign enough so far. He'd had it a little while now.. not that she knew where or how he got it, but it was nice he didn't seem plagued so she raised so alarms over it. She wondered what would happen if he grew somehow.. or if it would ever come off him just as mysteriously as it had arrived. If anything, that bothered her the most. She didn't want one, and would really like to know how to dodge that.

Dune had not seen one ever, and he was curious to know the details of when Amekaze had seen one, but he did not ask. It did not seem so important. Had others seen something like this before? Dune did not—and probably would not—know. To her question, he shook his head. So far, it had done nothing but draw attention to him. In some aspects, this was good, because he would be a memorable member of the pack. On the other hand, it had not drawn much positive attention. Everybody treated him like some strange alien. Except, perhaps, for Wraen.

In truth, the yearling did not know whether it would do anything or not. It had not done anything yet, but he was wise enough to know that some things laid low until it was time to strike. Hopefully, this gift would not be one of those things. He did think it had some higher purpose, but since he could not seem to figure it out, he imagined it was best to let things take their course.

Despite having seen a collar before, their exact purpose was lost on her and it would seem like he didn't really know either. Well, if it didn't do anything.. good or bad, she could tolerate it. "Hm. Well as long as it does not do anything.." she blinked, having now leaned in closer to it again, nose first. It kind of made her skin prickly just thinking about it, and on her neck no less. Rude, in her opinion. His indifference towards it was impressive.

"Is it strange to wear on your neck? Does it itch? Squeeze you?" she asked, tail waving slowly in some sort of vague anticipation of finding out more through his experience. She wasn't envious of it, though. It seemed too unnatural and foreign. Plus without knowing what it was for, she doubted she had any purpose for it. Looked like something far too noticeable for her to wear.

"Itch," he replied with a nod. Dune had gotten used to the weight rather quickly, so that had not been a problem. It certainly didn't squeeze him (thank goodness). Hydra had thought it was trying to kill him, and most of the others seemed to think it was going to harm the pack in some way. As far as Dune could tell (and he considered himself the most educated on the thing), it did not do much of anything. It was simply some burden that he was chosen to bear.

Eager to move the conversation onto... well, basically anything else, he attempted to shift it in another direction. "See big growling bird?" he asked. He had a feeling that had something to do with it, but Dune could not quite make the connection. Dune had been running from the big growling bird when he'd lost consciousness, but he honestly couldn't even remember what had caused him to do so.

She kept a clinical eye upon it as she finally fished out something it did do, although it was not much. Just itchy. Once again, not grounds for extreme measures, or much energy spent on it so long as it wasn't detracting from him--and she would be trying to keep an eye on it from afar even more now with that in mind, just in case that ever began to change.

As for another bother, she nodded. She struggled to perceive them as birds still, but it was close. They flew and were a menace much the same. "Yeah. I do not trust them any.. Seems like fewer lately though," she squinted, although she willed them to stay away from here on out just because they bothered her. Did he know something about them she did not? She traced the collar visually again, but exhaled a slow sigh. "Patrol with me?" she asked for a sudden change of pace, ready to return to a round of nighttime roving if she could.

Fewer lately? Dune had not thought so. They had appeared mere days before, so perhaps she meant only today there had been fewer. He cast a cursory glance at the sky, although nothing loomed above them a blanket of clouds. He would eventually speculate that the two were connected: the weight on his neck and the growling birds in the sky. For now, though, it seemed to be a mystery to both him and Amekaze.

She offered a change of pace and a word Dune recognized with no moment of pause: patrol. He nodded, eager to show his relatively new (to him) leader that he could do whatever task she asked of him. He (rightly or wrongly) assumed that she would take charge of leading the way, and Dune would follow in line with wherever she went.

Since she felt their looming presence less keenly herself in the last two, or maybe two, she hoped it would stay that way and the dark masses would not return to their skies before long. One on occasion, and keeping far away, was something she could possibly cope with, but no worse. Creeping the airspace near her mountain, especially out of their reach (not that she or any other wolf could exactly fight them off anyway, they were huger than any bull moose she had ever seen) was not something she would rest easy knowing--especially with her puppies inevitable.

But, as for what they could do in the meantime, she picked up her pace and glided forward to a loose trot soon enough. She planned to take them to a stretch of outer edge she had not seen yet today, one a little rockier underfoot than she really could appreciate, but woven with pathways well enough for any of their sorts to be able to make do. Once there, she was quick to keep to motion, and moved right along on patrol from there.